That's my baby!

L

Lola and I took a short road trip this morning to snap a few photos of the billboard on which she is featured. I was so excited to find it and even more pumped to discover it's in color since all previous Child of Children's billboards have been in black and white.

Amelia has been reporting that her baby sister is "famous" because she's on the billboard as well as a magazine. I think Amelia might be a tad bit jealous of all the attention Lola has been getting, but, truth be told, I'd prefer she never have had the condition and the operation that resulted in her becoming a Child of Children's. I am working to get Amelia to understand that we'd rather Lola be "famous" for something else.

And, I did not agree to allow Lola's story and photos to be shared across our state with any aspirations that she would be famous. While I am immensely proud of her and how she is thriving since her surgery, I am not seeking any fame for her or our family by sharing our story.

Instead, I hope that by sharing our story we can be an inspiration to other families who've weathered a major health event with their child. Additionally, I am more than happy to promote Children's Hospital in Birmingham, AL and share how wonderfully we were treated during Lola's stay there and what amazing doctors and nurses we encountered, and continue to encounter every time we return for a check-up.

Careful, don't get any drops of Jupiter on your skirt

I recently took Amelia shopping for clothes, a trip necessitated by the fact she had, in the span of two months, outgrown nearly every article of clothing in her closet.

We drove over an hour to one of the fancy-pants malls in our area in which a Gymboree store can be found. I personally love the clothes at Gymboree. They are cute as pie, can be mixed and matched to infinity and hold up really well to the stresses only a six-year-old can exert upon them.

Plus, and this is a big plus, because they withstand so well all that Amelia puts them through, I can be assured that Lola will also get to wear these same clothes, which somewhat allows me to justify spending $35.99 on a pair of kid's jeans - $30 of which is probably eat up by spangles and jewels.

Anyway, Amelia was psyched about our excursion until it became clear we were actually only going to be purchasing clothes. Had she been in charge we would have loaded up on jewelry and hair accessories at Gymboree and then headed over to Build-A-Bear where she would have built one of every kind of critter in stock.

I somehow managed to corral her in the dressing room to try on clothes, which turned out to be a very good thing because the child was a full size bigger than I'd expected her to be! Initially, Amelia was none too excited to have to try on clothes, but once she began to see how cute she looked in each outfit her attitude perked up. 

Additionally, Sharon, the very helpful Gymboree employee, who must have been bucking for some kind of sales award, became Amelia's personal cheerleader and never failed to offer extra pieces to an outfit as well as the aforementioned jewelry and hair accessories to my little fashionista who would proclaim each addition to be immensely necessary to completing her look. 

We left Gymboree with a full bag, but not empty pockets thanks to coupons and discounts added to the 30-percent-off sale price. (I saved the receipt just because I love being able to prove that I came home with more than $500 worth of clothes for just a smidge over $200.) It was my intent to head over to Belk to look for shoes for Amelia because without new shoes for fall and winter she would end up wearing flip-flops all year since that was the only thing in her closet that still fit her rapidly-expanding feet.

However, our walk to Belk was slowed by a fit in front of Build-A-Bear that threatened to escalate into a full-blown meltdown. I managed to keep Amelia from having a complete come-apart by suggesting she request from either Grandmaw, Auntie Tee or Santa Claus a gift card to Build-A-Bear for Christmas. While not entirely happy that we weren't immediately going to build enough stuffed animals to fill a zoo, she was placated enough by the thoughts said animals might be in her future to continue with me on our trek to Belk.

We continued on our way slowed only by three requests from people of Asian descent who were plugging their new massage therapy storefront who wanted to know if I would "liken a massage. Only take 30 minutes." I passed on the chance to be rubbed on in front of a picture window for all the city's most uppity shoppers to see and instead opted to enjoy a sit-down while Amelia played at an indoor, space-themed playground.

My gal was fired up about this playground and loved that she could perch high atop Jupiter ("see, Momma, it's the one with the big red spot.") and ride on a small-scale replica of the space shuttle. I let her play awhile, but forced her to leave once it became clear to me that a new group of children at the playground were intent on trying to scare the bejesus out of all the other kids by lying in wait and then jumping out and screaming at the tops of their lungs. 

After a few rides on the escalator and a stop at an import store to purchase a Chinese fan and a pair of chopsticks for my child who is a lover of all things Chinese, we made it to Belk where the selection of kids' shoes was pitiful as was their options in apparel. I decided we'd be better off shopping for shoes at Target so we headed to the van for a quick trip over the mountain.

Amelia was not happy at all to be heading to another store, but perked up once we arrived in the shoe section, where, as I predicted, there was a multitude of choices. We loaded up on shoes, picked up a few things on the grocery side and then packed up for the drive home.

Once we got home, Amelia, who was finishing up her dinner of chicken strips, chips and apples and strawberries that we'd snagged at the Target deli, was somewhat reluctant to show her daddy all of her clothes, although the fan and chopsticks were whipped out very quickly. After some prodding, she pulled out her clothes and shoes for a quick fashion show for Jeff and Lola, who was keenly interested in getting her hands on all her sister's stuff. 

After the show, Jeff asked Amelia if she had a good time spending the whole day with momma. She promptly reported that I refused to allow her carte blanche at Build-A-Bear Workshop, wouldn't drop mucho dinero for her to ride an overgrown slingshot and tried to make her ride the down escalator when she only likes riding the up escalator. Jeff prompted her for good news about our day to which she replied: "I got to watch a whole Barbie movie in one trip!"

Oh well. At least memories were made. And, most importantly, clothes and shoes were procured so that child might be sufficiently covered at least until Christmas. At the rate she's been growing, we'll be making this trip again in January.

Our little explorer

 Digging in the dirt is one of  Lola's favorite outdoor activities. I figured I'd let her use this planter to play in since I cannot seem to get anything to grow in it.

Ever since Mother Nature decided to turn the thermostat here in Alabama down from scorching hot to merely mildly sweltering I've been trying to spend more time outside with Lola. 

She absolutely loves getting to play outside and is content to explore our yard to find a multitude of treasures like rocks, leaves, sticks, seeds and "pop combs," which is her term for pine cones. I usually spend this time relaxing in a chair on the front porch reading one of the many magazines I subscribe to but rarely take the time to sit down and read. 

Getting to read in peace while Lola occupies herself is truly a luxury for me because I never got to do this with Amelia. Oh, I took her outside, but, from an early age, she needed to be entertained or directed in her outdoor activities. It's like she just didn't grasp the concept of finding something to do on her own, and she's like that to this day. 

This little personality trait in Amelia used to both worry and frustrate me, but seeing how happy Lola is just to escape the confines of the house lets me know that Amelia's dislike for the great outdoors is just part of who she is just as Lola's love for it is part of her. 

Truth be told, Amelia gets this quirk from me. I spent plenty of time as a child outside playing, riding bikes, building clubhouses and getting into all sorts of things, but I always did so with my friends who lived across the street. I never cared to venture outside by myself in search of something to do and neither does Amelia.

Sadly, Amelia doesn't have any children who live nearby with whom she can play outside; but, on the upside, as Lola gets older, Amelia is learning to enjoy playing with her more and more so, hopefully, Lola will one day be able to be an outside playmate for Amelia and show her all the wondrous things that are to be found just outside our doors.

Friday five: They sure love this cat!

A lesson from my momma

Shaving my legs is low on my list of things I regularly accomplish. It's a time-consuming process that I rarely undertake because I am so tired most nights that by the time I get a shower I just don't have the wherewithal to tackle shaving.

However, in an ironic twist, as much as I hate shaving my legs, I detest the way they feel when I haven't shaved in quite a while. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I was mulling getting up and shaving my legs the other day when I was reminded of a rather funny story about my momma shaving her legs.

It was back in the summer of 1996 when she was living with her daddy. She had moved in under the pretense she would stay for a while to help him recuperate from a recent illness, but wound up staying after the man with whom she'd been living died suddenly leaving her without a home to call her own.

During this time I was in college and had an apartment of my own, but often spent the night at my grandfather's house. It was nice being able to share meals with momma and DaddyBonds, which is what I and all his other grandchildren called him, and they seemed to enjoy my company. Also, being there meant I didn't have to deal with the loneliness that often fell over me when I was by myself at my place.

Anyway, my grandfather was stingy. Some people might call it frugal, thrifty or cheap, but regardless of what words you use, my grandfather didn't like to spend money on what he considered frivolous expenditures - like, say, air conditioning.

DaddyBonds had lived through the Depression, during which his oldest child was born, so he was no stranger to pinching pennies. In fact, members of the family, myself included, used to joke that he could pinch a penny until it melted. As far as he was concerned, air conditioning was an expensive luxury on which he just couldn't understand spending his hard-earned cash. 

There was only one large window unit air conditioner in his house, which came in at about 2,000 square feet. It was mounted in the combination kitchen/dining room. If you sat in there or in the adjacent den while the A/C was on you would freeze and thus feel the need to don a jacket in the middle of July. 

However, the A/C did little to cool the rest of the house. which is why, on the rare occasions DaddyBonds let us turn on the A/C, momma and I would shut the doors leading to other parts of the house so as to contain all the cold air in the den, kitchen and dining room.

We would be nice and cold while we watched television wrapped in our jackets or blanket, but, if we had to go to the bathroom, we had to strip down to our shorts and t-shirts so we didn't melt as we answered the call of nature. We could deal with this minor annoyance, but trying to sleep at night was a whole other level of annoyance. 

DaddyBonds, who was not only stingy, but also less sensitive to hot weather due the fact age and a bad case of diabetes had wreaked havoc on his circulatory system, was perfectly comfortable sleeping in his bed with just the attic fan running at night despite the fact it was 80 degrees in the house. In fact, on those rare summer nights when the temps dipped into the lower 70s, DaddyBonds felt better sleeping with the electric blanket on! 

OH MY WORD! I am sweating just thinking about it. 

Because DaddyBonds was still the ruler of his home and paid the majority of the bills while we were there, momma and I didn't feel right complaining to him about being hot at night. Plus, even though she was in her mid-50s at the time, momma was very reluctant to stand up to her daddy. 

So we suffered. 

Momma and I each had two fans in our respective bedrooms. We placed one in the window in an attempt to pull in cool air and another as close to the bed without actually being in it so the coolish air from it could blow on our faces. I also took to sleeping at the foot of my bed with the hope that a nice breeze might blow through the other window in the room.

One night while I was laying in bed listening to the incessant roar of the attic fan and sweating as though I'd been running laps, I heard momma get up and go to the bathroom. This was nothing unusual as she often got up throughout the night to tend to business. However, this night she seemed to be taking a conspicuously long time in there.

I got up to check on her to see if something was wrong. I knocked on the bathroom door and asked her if everything was okay. She replied, "I'm fine. I'm just shaving my legs."

I was dumbstruck by her reply because for one thing it was almost 2 in the morning and for another momma had never enjoyed shaving her legs so the fact she would get out of bed in the middle of the night to do so struck me as strange to say the least.

I opened the door and asked her why in the world she was shaving her legs at this ungodly hour. Momma said she was only shaving the insides of her legs because she was so hot lying in bed that the hair on the inside of her lower legs was irritating her and keeping her from being able to lie on her side with her legs tucked up, which was her favorite position to be in when she slept - or tried to in this case.

Momma's answer made me laugh out loud - and did again as I just typed it. I told her I was afraid something was wrong and that's why I'd come to check on her. She assured me everything was alright, and I left her to her task.

I returned to bed where I continued to be unable to sleep. Momma went back to bed a short time thereafter, but was back up again within the hour. As she passed the door to my room, momma asked, "Bran, you awake?" 

I said "yes" and she said she just wanted to let me know she was going to get some lotion because he legs were on fire. 

Apparently, dry-shaving her legs and then returning to bed to sweat irritated her legs something terrible. I chuckled as she headed down the hall to retrieve the lotion and made a mental note to always have clean-shaven legs before attempting to sleep without the luxury of air conditioning.

One book. One cookie. Three happy people.

Reading is very important to me and Jeff, which is why we try to read to the girls as much as possible. Amelia can now read a lot of books by herself, but still prefers to sit back and listen to one of us read to her from time to time. On a recent night I caught Amelia enjoying a cookie and listening in as Jeff read "I Love You, Stinkyface" to her and Lola. I love how intently Lola is looking at the book while Jeff reads, and even though Amelia took a moment to smile for the camera, she was thoroughly enjoying the book as well.

Wordless Wednesday: No daddy! I do it!